


Masked Ace

by Chromi



Category: One Piece
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, NaNoWriMo 2020, Sharing Clothes, Silly, Swearing, kind of lolol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27800773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromi/pseuds/Chromi
Summary: “Is Ace-san in trouble?” Mihal asked mildly.“Eh, no, not exactly,” said Skull in a tone that indicated that this was not entirely true, “no, he's not introubleas such, no...” One look at Mihal's raised eyebrow was enough to break Skull into a sigh that rolled into a giggle. “But heiscurrently being hunted by Master Deu.”
Relationships: Masked Deuce & Portgas D. Ace, Mihar & Skull
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	Masked Ace

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of nonsense to end NaNoWriMo 2020 ✨ thank you to my friends in my [discord server (18+ only)](https://discord.gg/K7BNWPMk5E) for enabling this 😂 I'm sure one day I'll do something more with the clothes swap idea!
> 
> I think Viz translating _sensei_ (in reference to Mihal) as Teach was a really, really poor choice, so I refer to him as "Prof" or "Professor" instead.

“Have you seen Master Ace recently, Prof?” Skull asked by way of greeting, leaning against the doorframe of Mihal's study with the biggest, smuggest grin the teacher had ever seen there.

Mihal thought for a moment, trying to recall who had been where and at what time throughout the day so far.

Saber had looked in for a brief visit after a rather uneventful breakfast, at first embarrassed to be bringing up the subject of wanting Mihal to help him with his reading skills, but then gradually becoming more relaxed once it became obvious that Mihal was not going to laugh at him like his old friends back home had done.

Later, Deuce had muttered and clicked his tongue in concern poorly disguised as irritation when Mihal had wandered into the doctor's office soon after Saber had bade him farewell. Regrettably, through his own clumsiness and carelessness, Mihal had punctured his hand on a pair of scissors, leading to Deuce stitching the small wound closed and sealing it with a square band-aid. Warnings such as _be careful_ and _watch what you're doing_ rolled off of Mihal's back as he left Deuce alone with a smile and a wave, thoughts drifting away to the vague concoction of lesson plans and order of topics for Saber.

He had seen Skull on his trip back, had waved to him; had seen Banshee, Wallace, Barry, and Ganryu gathered in the mess hall, pouring over a game of chess...

But Ace? No, Mihal didn't think he had seen him since the night before, and Mihal was always certain to keep track of his captain, if no one else.

“Why?” Mihal asked mildly once he had recounted every detail of his travels to Skull, ignoring how his friend showed increasing evidence of not giving a fuck about Mihal's day so far. “Is he in trouble?”

“Eh, no, not exactly,” said Skull in a tone that indicated that this was not entirely true, “no, he's not in _trouble_ as such, no...” One look at Mihal's raised eyebrow was enough to break Skull into a sigh that rolled into a giggle. “But he _is_ currently being hunted by Master Deu.”

“Do I want to know why?”

Skull deliberated on the question with a finger to his chin, looking really quite ridiculous like that. “He might have – _maybe_ – decided to switch clothes with Master Deu while Master Deu was in the shower.”

Mihal frowned. “Including his mask?”

“Naturally,” Skull snorted.

Ah.

“Isn't that kind of cruel to Deuce-san?” Mihal asked, resting his chin in his palm. “He gets so upset when any of us come close to seeing him without his mask... I can't imagine Ace-san would be as callous as to—”

“Oh, don't worry about that,” Skull snickered, grinning, “Master Ace, uh—well, he left a replacement for Master Deu, see, so he _does_ have a mask, like... in a sense.”

Mihal was not sure he liked the tone of Skull's voice, nor the way he was grinning.

But before he could press his friend for further details on the crew's bosses' latest shenanigans, the door (which Skull had closed during Mihal's thrilling recount of his morning) was flung open hard enough to ricochet off the wall, exposing Ace, panting and looking wildly exhilarated—

—wearing everything that Deuce usually favored in his day-to-day attire, right down to his boots. Ace had even gone the extra mile and extracted Deuce's old bag from under his bed, having slung it over a shoulder and across his chest.

“Have you seen Deu?” Ace asked breathlessly, looking completely thrilled with himself, eyes alive with excitement. “I lost him a floor below; he's gonna kill me when he catches me!”

Yet even while talking about his imminent death via enraged doctor, Ace looked spectacularly pleased with himself as he adjusted the mask over his eyes, plainly not used to the sensation of it being there.

“No, captain, he's not been in here,” Mihal said as Skull roared with laughter at the sight of Ace-turned-Deuce, he himself unable to keep a straight face. “Skull-san was just telling me about your... _game_. What did you leave for Deuce-san to wear?”

“He's got my clothes,” Ace said brightly, stuffing his hands in the pockets of Deuce's long jacket. “We're the same size, so don't worry about them not fitting; he's wearing them now,” he added, looking dreamy all of a sudden. “Sure is nice to see Deuce in my shorts...”

“And what about his mask?” Mihal asked. “You're wearing his – and may I just say that it suits you wonderfully, Ace-san—” Ace gave him a sweeping bow as Skull applauded him, “—so what is he...?”

But before Ace could answer, the sound of running footsteps filled the room, accompanied by Deuce's battle cry of, “Portgas D. Ace, I'm going to _kill you!”_

“Whoops!” Ace yelped, bouncing from foot to foot, looking far too excited to consider himself in any real danger. “That'd be my cue to get the fuck outta here! Later, guys!”

And he was gone with a squeal of laughter, barely ducking out of the room in time to avoid Deuce, hot on his heels, coming slamming into the doorframe with all the grace of a wounded rhino.

Mihal barely had the chance to register the fury in his eyes, the beginnings of betrayal darkening them as he looked between his two friends, realization that they had been assisting his enemy slowly beginning to sink in—

—before Mihal was laughing hard enough to hurt – Skull too – at poor Deuce's appearance.

For Deuce was wearing a mask, alright.

It was the cheap mask that he had drunkenly bought for Ace a few months back when the crew had visited a carnival, palming it into Ace's hands and laughing that now they could be Masked Ace and Masked Deuce together. Garishly bright, it was adorned with red and orange feathers, plastic lemon-yellow jewels around the eyes, and fastened around his head with a piece of elastic, giving him the awfully comical appearance of a child wearing his own glued-together creation.

“Don't laugh!” He wailed at them, cheeks almost as red as the feathers, for they had quickly worked themselves into hysterics at the sight of him. “I'm going to kick Ace off the god damn _ship_ for this, I swear on his life—”

“Ah, Master Deu,” Skull wept, wiping his eyes, “ye could have just not worn it, pal, couldn't ye? Gone stealth-mode and avoided everyone until ye found your beloved and silently murdered him?”

That option had plainly not made itself available to Deuce on getting out the shower and finding Ace's stupid hat there instead of his mask.

“He went that way,” Mihal snorted, indicating the direction Ace had took off in, “so he's probably gone to hide in the pantry.”

“Right,” Deuce growled, cracking his knuckles in his fist, “I hope you weren't too attached to him being in charge, because once I'm done with him, _I'm_ gonna be your new captain.”

“Good luck!” Skull bellowed as Deuce took off again, doubled up with laughter. “Make him pay, Master Deu! Get his ass!”

Hiding his enormous grin in his palm, Mihal waited a few seconds before suggesting, “shall we follow them? Call me odd if you will, but I wouldn't mind witnessing Deuce-san single-handedly annihilating our beloved captain.”

“Ye even need to ask?” Skull chuckled. “C'mon, before he finishes him off.”

**Author's Note:**

> Who Knows has one last scene to be written (and a lot of editing) and then it'll be ready to go! NaNo has been difficult, but worth it and a lot of fun. I'm so happy I've managed to write 50k in a month 💕💕💕
> 
> I love chatting, so feel free to send me a message on either [Tumblr](https://chromiwrites.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Chromiwrites)! I'm always open to requests and chatting about these guys!


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